1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of surface based computing and, more particularly, to using a surface based computing device for verification of an identification document.
2. Description of the Related Art
Security measures involving identifying documents are used to access goods, services, secured regions, and the like. For example, alcohol distribution is age restricted and alcohol purchasers are required to show a driver's license or other photo identification that verifies their age at a time of sale. In another example, night clubs are commonly age restricted and only grant entry to people that meet the age requirement, as verified by an identifying document (e.g., driver's license). Many test taking facilities, such as facilities administering Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) or American College Test (ACT) tests, require test takers to produce a valid photo identification document to verify that the person actually taking a test is a person receiving credit for the test results.
In conventional security situations, a human agent is involved in the verification process. Use of humans to verify identifying documents is inherently flawed for multiple reasons. First, human agents can be bribed to overlook a flawed identification document, such as when a cashier is paid excessive amounts for alcohol by a minor. Even if there are no bribes are involved, humans are generally not skilled at verifying a legitimacy of identifying documents, especially when the documents are from a state or a country other than the one the human agent is in. More specifically, a human agent is generally not very good at knowing whether items within an identifying document are positioned correctly, even though incorrect or inexact positioning of items is common for fake identifying documents. What is needed is a convenient, more secure way to verify identity which is not solely dependent on human verification.